ABOUT US

Dance Waterloo is a sponsored project of Austin Creative Alliance. The mission of Dance Waterloo is to cultivate, create, and perform interdisciplinary methods of dance for the community through public space, education, and collaboration.

Dance Waterloo’s vision is to encourage new audiences, including those skeptical of the intrinsic value of “the arts” or “modern dance”, to discover, encounter, and experience dance in unconventional, forgotten, or overlooked public spaces within the city of Austin. We invite the public to act as both a dance observer and participant through free and pay-what-you-can performances and community dance programming. Through this mission and vision, Austinites can enhance their appreciation of dance, the city, and of each other.

READ OUR 4 TENETS

CollaborationWe believe in building a bridge between artistic disciplines in order to create dance for every art lover. When we work together with other artists, our minds spark new ideas that we wouldn’t be able to produce alone. We continue to learn about art by learning from each other.

Public SpacesWe believe in imprinting a public space with our art so that people can connect with dance in a place they already know. Our inspirations are drawn from the history, both natural and man-made. Though it is not a person, we view a public space as a form of collaboration as well as we take in an environment to create dance and give back through performance. Using public space for dance collaborations excites us because it is an opportunity to bring artists nationally to Austin and share public spaces in Austin internationally. Dance film plays an integral role in this public space exchange.

Education
We believe education is not a K-12 thing but a lifetime endeavor. An education in dance holds the key to growth in character, physicality, and mentality. We aim to educate through two types of programming; Storybook Dance Making, and Creative Collaborative Projects. The goal of Storybook Dance Making is for children and adults to learn the key elements in creating a dance while working together as a family. What better way to do that than with a storybook theme tied in? We believe learning how to choreograph essentially helps both adults and children learn how to be better leaders, thinkers, creators, and family members.

We have mostly been working with the 3-5 range with a class running between 30-45 minutes long. A class typically consists of a circle check-in, warm-up, storybook reading, a scaffolded choreographic activity where families build a dance together, and a mini-performance where each family does a show & tell of their dance. Dance Waterloo also values an education in dance that invites people to question and respond to abstract and public performance art. We encourage our audiences to own their interpretations of art and express questions and responses through our pre/post show discussions.

Community
We love our Austin community. We came up with the name Dance Waterloo in order to represent the history, diversity, and culture of this unique city that once was Waterloo. We believe that our art adds to the Austin community by bringing people together for entertainment, conversation, activity, and rest. We do this by allowing all of our programs and performances be free to the public. We want Austin to have access to quality dance art.

About Us

The mission of Dance Waterloo is to cultivate, create and perform interdisciplinary methods of dance for the community through education, collaboration and the use of public space. Read More »

Our Sponsors

Dance Waterloo is a sponsored project of the Austin Creative Alliance. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.